Combining an overview of the history of communication scholarship with lessons learned from 20 years of experience as a prison abolitionist and peace activist, Hartnett argues that the discipline of communication can be enriched intellectually and made more politically relevant by turning our efforts toward community service, problem-based…

Reveals a three-way interaction between cue, perception, and response. Suggests that background cues contributed the most to this interaction and that negative and neutral responses had the largest effects. Finds that respondents were more likely to perceive humorous intent overall, and that they were more likely to respond positively when they…

Presents criteria for judging research evidence. Points to the importance of seeing the relationship between and among data, observation, evidence, and theory. Defines "communication evidence" as examining the process by which agents produce meaning with others, with emphasis on meaning as production. Concludes with a plea to let…

Offers empathic criticism (based on eavesdropping at three conferences) as an academic practice that might help return the life to critical self-reflection and social practice. Contrasts it with reigning critical approaches. (SR)

Determines whether relational patterns in design logics exist, enabling the identification and prediction of mixed-status relationships where social support is enhanced. Finds, among a voluntary sample of nurses, highest levels of relational support in relationships where the nurse-manager employs (but the staff nurse does not) a…

Integrates extant research on pro- and antisocial compliance-gaining tactic selection decisions with research about the effects of compliance-gaining tactic use. Finds supervisors were rated more competent when using liking rather than negative altercasting. Presents a model supporting the tactic-competence-task attraction path relationship. (SR)

Argues for reframing and reforging the relationship between text and context. Argues that the silences that modernity's tribute to text invites are grotesque, untenable, and fundamentally anti-intellectual. (SR)

Explores the way the doctrines of would-be academic humanists intersect with the political world of struggle and scarcity. Argues that the academy has become consumed by a debilitating doctrine: the textualizing of politics, where attitude is all, where everything is preliminary and little ever gets done. (SR)

Traces the evolution of the enduring rhetorical genre of apologia from the Greek period to the present. Argues that apologia has undergone significant changes in form because its function has changed throughout history, producing five "subgenres." Examines implications for the continued feasibility of apologia, as well as the critical…

Finds that concern for following social rules induces self-deprecation when college undergraduates experienced conflict in roommate relationships. Reveals that the relationship between concern for following social rules and wanting to appear rational in a conflict-related discussion does not depend on intended partner. (SR)

Contributes to scholarship advancing understanding communication by identifying theoretically coherent and empirically robust dimensions (separation, concurrency, and flexibility) underlying work group members' perception of time. Finds that work groups differ in theoretically meaningful ways with regard to time orientation and that their varied…

Explores the essentialist influences on the public sphere from a feminist perspective, suggesting that an essentialist ideology informs the public/private distinction. Argues that the public sphere is not strictly a result of historical changes or economic influences but is also dependent on an essentialist view of women and men. (PA)

States that conversation analysis has enjoyed recent acceptance in mainstream communication research. Points out that one criticism is that conversation analysts have not felt obligated to demonstrate "intertranscriber" reliability for the use of transcription notation. Finds that multiple transcribers are capable of producing similar…

Investigates circumstances under which communication variables contribute significantly to the constitution of group decisions. Postulates two variables, homogeneity of task-relevant information possessed by group members and task demonstrability, to moderate the impact of communication and group member ability on quality of group outcomes.…

Explains I.A. Richards tenor-vehicle model of metaphor, which has seen extended use in communication scholarship. Reviews Richards' conception of the model and subsequent treatment of its components. Evaluates various patterns of appropriation and makes recommendations regarding future usage. (PM)